The Covid Chronicles Follow the Journey with Catford WI

Due to be published in March 21 this our own piece of social History.

Over the months of lockdown Catford WI have kept up a daily conversation via WhatsApp. We told jokes, admired gardens and asked for suggestions for them; shared Cocktail recommendations as well as commenting on the day to day events of the Summer of Covid 19.

The commentary has been distilled into a book which tells the story of the year in members’ own words and illustrated with our own photos. Definitely one to keep for future generations.

Our January Meeting

Our first ‘meeting’ of 2021 proved to be an unexpected treasure. Our guest speaker was Jane Grayer who works as an independent Celebrant, working with families to create bespoke occasions, Weddings, Baby Namings and Funerals. It was the latter that sparked many questions and contributions from members speaking openly about their own experiences of family funerals. This is not a subject which we often talk about but Jane’s sympathetic and empathetic manner and real enthusiasm for her work was very clear and as she works in costume under her Steampunk alter ego, Unity Ironbright, was quite eye opening. Jane also talked about many traditions she uses in her wedding ceremonies for example hand fasting and broom jumping all a far cry from a ‘traditional’ white wedding and very personal to the couples involved.

Our December Meeting

Despite the meeting being held on zoom we still managed to have something of a celebration. Santa hats and mince pies at the ready we gathered on the 8th December. After the business of the meeting was dealt with, the Committee gave a rendition of ‘The twelve months of the WI’ which occasionally erred on the side of being tuneful. We had our usual chat rooms and then the speaker, David Allen, gave us a highly entertaining presentation of ‘Merry Christmas Mr Dickens’ which gave us a flavour of Dickens’ life story as well as excepts from ‘A Christmas Carol’. All members having received a ‘Meeting in a Bag’ in advance there was a moment to let rip with party poppers and noise makers before the evening ended with the drawing of the raffle.

Our November Meeting

As our meeting this month took place during the latest Covid 19 lockdown we sadly had to report that all of our planned outings had had to be cancelled so the visit to Trinity House and Guided Walk to Crystal Place will, hopefully be rearranged for a later date.

We went through our regular meeting business and Caroline noted that the NFWI Resolutions have now been agreed and that we can now vote on our preferred option either by post or email so Catford WI’s choice can be registered.

Our presentation this month was given by one of our own resident experts, Caroline, who talked about the art of making Jams, Jellies and Preserves, the differences between them and gave us all useful tips on how to go about making jam from all varieties of fruit. We are now all well versed in recognising a rolling boil and why we should put saucers in the freezer before beginning the task.

The second part of the evening’s presentation was a short film from Karrie from the Scilly Isles who showed us how to use spare buttons to make a variety of greetings cards.

To enhance our new ‘virtual’ world both presentations are now available on our YouTube channel.

The evening ended with a couple of rounds of Bingo with, of course, pots of homemade Jam as the prizes.

Our October Meeting

A good number of us ‘zoomed’ in for our October meeting and enjoyed the regular chat room discussions which have now become such an important part of our meetings. Sue H reported that our accounts for the year ended in March 2020 have now been signed off by the IFE. Caroline reported that membership fees will rise to £44 for the year and will be payable in April. She also mentioned that Catford WI had been featured in this month’s WI Life magazine with pictures of some of our groups exciting activities including tank driving and axe throwing!.

Our speaker this month was Sarah Payne, an expert in the art and craft of quilt making. Sarah gave an excellent presentation about the history and social value of quilts. She showed examples from Nepal which are sold to raise money to educate Nepalese children and antique quilts from north America including some made from meal sacks which the manufacturers had pre printed with quilt patches. Sarah also shows us a quilt stitched during the American Civil war. Sarah also takes about the emotional value of quilts as they are so often made as a very personal gift for a loved one. Her enthusiasm and knowledge made her talk absolutely fascinating and was very much enjoyed by the group.

The evening concluded with a vintage children’s tv quiz put to gather by Pauline which made us all rack our brains.

Greenwich Walk

On Saturday 26th September 2 groups of 6 members joined Kate Boyle for a guided Tour around Greenwich. This was to be our first organised event since March and was very much enjoyed by all who went along….although it proved to be a very cold day in spite of the beautiful blue skies.

Our September Meeting

We are still Zooming, and likely to be so for some time to come, so we are taking advantage of being able to access speakers who under normal circumstances would be unlikely to attend in person. The speaker for the September meeting was Howard Slater who took us on virtual journey through the East End of London from the Huguenots to the Bengalis. He gave us a definition of the East End, the area from Liverpool Street to Shoreditch and talked about the history of the area through waves of immigration which affected the economic activity and the culture of the area. Always an area defined by extreme poverty, the east end was also the home to many charities supporting the working classes including Toynbee Hall, the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Child Poverty Action Group. Howard then took us on a virtual walk around the streets from Liverpool Street Station through Spitalfields Market ending up in Brick Lane and Shoreditch High Street.

Our August Meeting

This year we decided to hold an August Meeting as few of us are away on holiday due to Covid 19. On Tuesday 11th August 29 members including 3 guests ‘met’ via zoom. As Max had sent her apologies, Bee was in the chair and following her opening greetings the meeting progressed. Caroline talked about the NFWI decision to close Denman and the newly launched digital newsletter which is for WI members and interested others. Sue confirmed that we are solvent as a group and Kay talked about the picnic planned for Saturday 22nd August in Beckenham Place Park. She also commented on plans to organise walks in September to Bromley Common and Biggin Hill.

Our speaker for the evening was Jane Eastoe, a fashion journalist and editor who talked about her book ‘Queen Elizabeth - reigning in style’ and discussed the concept of the Queen not as a style icon but, over her very long reign, as a woman of impeccable taste who has rarely put a foot wrong with her wardrobe. Jane described the process of planning the Queen’s wardrobe for foreign tours where as many as 100 new outfits may be required. She also illustrated the talk with images of the Queen’s coronation robes and Wedding gown as well as pictures of the Queen’s outfits from a very early age discussing the limitations which must be followed, no cleavage to show, no hems to fly up and the recognition that the Queen must be visible to the many people who wish to see her.

The evening was completed by Pauline’s picture quiz of locations around the world….the inclusion of Lewisham Hospital alongside the Taj Mahal and the Statue of Liberty caused some consternation.

Our July Meeting

Our July meeting was again held via Zoom and we were very pleased to welcome 37 members and guests, some of whom were joining us for the first time. Max began the meeting by welcoming everybody and noting that NFWI had announced the extension of this year’s membership by 3 months to cover the period when many groups were unable to meet. Caroline noted that Denman@Home courses were continuing and that, having attended one or two would recommend the courses on offer. Kay was very pleased to be able to announce a planned outing at last - A Picnic in the Park - at Beckenham Place Park on Saturday 18th July at 2pm, subject only to the weather being kind. We again broke into ‘chat rooms’ for a chance to catch up with each other.

Our speaker for the meeting was Dr Robert Massey from the Royal Astrological Society who gave us a fascinating illustrated talk about the Moon as depicted in art, science and literature. The images were quite beautiful ranging from the Nebra Sky Disc which showed the phases of the moon as seen in Saxony in 1600BC through to the Earth Rise as seen from the moon taken in 1968. Robert also answered a wide variety of questions from members about space exploration.

Our June Meeting

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect all our lives we again held our monthly meeting by Zoom. The committee have been considering ways to enhance the experience and try to make it more like a physical meeting and with this in mind decided to try ‘breakout chat rooms’ during the break between business and the Speaker. Members were randomly allocated into smaller groups so we could chat away from the noise of the main meeting. This was considered by all to be a great success. Another innovation was to introduce Bingo at the end of the meeting which induced great hilarity all round and again will be repeated. Our speaker for the meeting was Karen Giles the longest serving female Officer in the Metropolitan Police. Karen told us of her experiences from the early days when she was advised to use her handbag as a defensive weapon to her current role managing repeat offenders in the Community. She has spent her whole career in South East London based at Peckham and then Lewisham and her thoughtful and human approach to her work makes her a role model for young Police Officers everywhere. 

Our May Meeting

As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to impact on our everyday lives, we met again by Zoom on May 12th. This time we had 42 participants including friends from the Scilly Isles and Paris. We had presentations from Susan R about the work of Omushana, a charity working in Ghana to promote reading among school children through the creation of libraries and supporting teachers. In complete contrast we then had a illustrated presentation with appropriate sound effects from Nicole B about the birds which can be seen in our locality and beyond. Both were equally fascinating and enjoyable. The ‘meeting’ concluded with the drawing of a ‘virtual Raffle’ won by Susan R and with a prize created by Caroline W.

Our April Meeting

In common with many WIs we moved to the world of Zoom for our April meeting as we are all in lockdown from Covid 19. However 34 people joined the meeting including our speaker, Crime Writer William Shaw, who gave an interesting presentation and answered questions afterward. We conducted our usual WI business and had to manage with virtual cake!

Cinema Museum

On the 22nd February a group of us visited the Cinema Museum which, appropriately, is housed in the old Lambeth Workhouse once home to Charlie Chaplin and his family. We had a fascinating talk about the history of the building and a tour of the building which holds a wonderful collection of artefacts going back to the earliest days of the Cinema.

Our February Meeting

At our monthly meeting on February 11th we were joined by Verona Clarke, Station Commander with the London Fire Brigade. Verona gave a really interesting talk about her life and work in the LFB. What a great role model to girls and women alike. Signed up new member for our last remaining place for 2020 and we were pleased to welcome 6 guests from the waiting list, including 2 who attended for the first time.

London Loop Walk (Section 4)

On Saturday 8th February an intrepid group of four walked section 4 of the London Loop today, Gates Green Road, West Wickham to Hamsey Green. In the beautiful sunshine and bright blue skies on a crisp winters day, the ‘fab’ four walked a total of 12 miles. We walked across recreation grounds, playing fields, through parks, ancient woodlands and all the way up to the high point at Addington Hills. The walk was stunning, both interesting and challenging.

Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh

On February 6th a group went on a quick trip to Egypt, or at least Chelsea, visiting the Tutankhamen exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery. Lots of wonderful artefacts on show. Followed by supper at Cote Brasserie in Fulham Road.

Cocktail Evening

On 31st January members and non-members enjoyed a cocktail evening, hosted by Fiona (with Kay on teas and coffee!). Everyone came with a thirst, can’t imagine why and it was a thoroughly enjoyable, lively, loud and sociable evening.

Our January Meeting

On 14 January we celebrated our tenth birthday. Our party was attended by members, friends from our waiting list and special invited guests.

During the celebrations we unveiled a memory book; enjoyed a slide show of over 400 photos from throughout our ten-year history, had fun with decorated photo frames for selfies; and unveiled our new tablecloth/banner, made by members of our craft group. A delicious buffet was provided by members who cooked a range of tasty treats. And our stunning birthday cake was baked and decorated by Linda McV.

All in all, it was a fantastic evening, made possible by the collective energy of both the committee and members. Here’s looking forward to an exciting tenth-anniversary year!

London Loop Walk (Section 3)

A small group of us walked section 3 of the London Loop on a windy winter’s day. We walked just over 10 miles from Petts Wood to West Wickham Common. It was a lovely walk in the countryside, muddy in places, but we all kept our balance.

Our December Meeting

Our December meeting featured a craft session led by Caroline W. She taught us to make ribbon-and-bead Christmas tree decorations. We also had a bumper Christmas raffle, including a fabulous hamper, and members brought in donations to help make up Christmas food parcels for local families in need of a little extra help over the festive season.